There Go the Ships by George Shirley

There Go the Ships (actually quite a common title for books on sea-faring), written by George Shirley, is a fascinating eye-witness account of life and death on British Ships around the tale of the Nineteenth Century.

In actual fact, it is written from notes left by George's father. Surprisingly, he does not name his father in the Preface, and George's father does not give his own name in the text.

The book gives fascinating accounts of life on the ships for the ordinary seaman, recounting how they faced death not just at the hands of the French, but also at the wims of their own captains for the smallest of offences, for which the death penalty was often imposed.